News
Lawmakers Propose AML Controls for Hedge Funds
By Matt Squire
printSenate lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that would require hedge funds to implement anti-money laundering controls and answer to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sens. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, and Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, introduced the bill to impose stricter regulatory oversight on a financial sector plagued by high-profile scandals. The lawmakers introduced separate, similar bills in 2007 that failed to progress in Congress. Under the new measure, hedge funds would be required to establish anti-money laundering (AML) controls, designate an AML compliance officer and report suspicious transactions to the U.S. Treasury Department. The department would work with...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Subscribe
Learn More
Related News
Ahead of expected anti-money laundering regulations for investment advisers, some private equity firms may find themselves subject to such oversight for a reason few would have guessed: their fee structures.
It took over a year of negotiations but plans to impose EU anti-money laundering rules on U.S. hedge funds and private equity firms have officially been dropped, according to a European directive adopted Thursday.
A European Union financial reform bill scheduled for a vote Monday could impose new anti-money laundering requirements on offshore investment vehicles, including U.S. hedge funds, say analysts.
The Obama administration Wednesday released proposed legislation detailing new financial compliance and recordkeeping requirements for hedge, private equity and venture capital funds.
A lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase by a Florida investment firm that lost $12.8 million to convicted hedge fund manager Bernard Madoff could mean more regulatory scrutiny for the bank.
In the rush to better regulate the anti-crime controls of financial firms, international authorities may be ignoring a rarely abused but highly lucrative financial instrument: private equity funds.
Plans by the U.S. Treasury Department to revamp regulatory oversight of financial institutions will likely spur on efforts to impose anti-money laundering compliance requirements on hedge funds, say consultants.
Hedge fund lobbyists increased their spending by over 700 percent between 2006 and 2008 in an effort to stave off stricter oversight, according to data provided by a non-partisan research group.
New Year's Eve may have come and gone and all of the post-celebration headaches faded, but financial institutions are going to need many more months to recover from 2008.
U.S. lawmakers will likely vote to implement anti-money laundering and other controls on hedge funds in the wake of the alleged multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme by Bernard Madoff, say consultants.
Almost a quarter of investment management companies do not have means to monitor the transactions they handle for suspicious activity, including fraud and money laundering, according to a survey by Deloitte.
Though headlines are focused on the subprime mortgage crisis and recessionary fears, criminals are still finding ways to launder funds, including through trade-based finance , says Elaine Carey, Senior Vice President and National Director of Control Risks, an independent risk consultancy office.
Hedge funds are fast becoming a top destination for fraudsters and money launderers, experts say.
More than five years after regulators proposed that hedge funds be subjected to anti-money laundering standards, compliance experts in Washington, D.C., say the initiative will continue to gather dust as regulators shift their priorities toward the capital crisis and other regulatory issues.
The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed anti-money laundering rules that have remained dormant for nearly five years.